Midas’ Russian distributor Theater Technics and Technology has installed Midas XL8 and PRO6 systems into the Crocus City Hall in Moscow. With a 6,200 capacity, the new building is now Russia’s largest concert hall and has the ability to host a wide variety of events, from concerts and festivals through to conferences and business forums. The two-level hall can switch between different modes, easily converting into a smaller, 2,200-seater venue, while the stalls can be modified to provide either a seating area for corporate events or a dance floor.
During the building work, the client and the designer struck a very important compromise: to position the XL8 in the centre of the hall, where the most important VIP seats are usually located.
“As a rule, clients usually try to ‘hide’ the workplace of the sound man on a balcony, or allocate some space in the central aisle of the hall,” says the hall’s deputy technical director, Vladimir Antonov. “People now envy us for having our front of house console in the most logical position. Even though there’s always a struggle to provide as many seats as possible, we have a large, 6 metre by 3 metre front of house area – practically the size of another VIP box.
“All engineers, those who have already worked at the Crocus City Hall and those who have just visited, are of the same opinion: at last there is a hall in Moscow where the main console is situated at the very place where it should be according to acoustic laws.”
The PRO6 monitor console has also commanded a good-sized working space, being installed in a wing of the stage with plenty of room to work comfortably, well away from the performance area. To avoid lengthy cable runs, four I/O boxes have been sunk into the stage floor to work exclusively with the monitor console.
According to the technical team at the Crocus City Hall, Midas was chosen because they considered it to be the latest in state-of-the-art live audio mixing technology, as supported by the number of Midas digital systems installed in numerous prestigious venues worldwide.
Another consideration was that the XL8 and PRO6 interact can be seamlessly networked and complement each other perfectly, no matter what the application. And as the use of digital consoles and audio networking proliferates year by year, they were convinced that going down the Midas route was the right choice for their venue.
“The first concerts held here have demonstrated that most engineers are eager to work on our new Midas consoles,” says Vladimir Antonov. “For example, for a concert by Turkish star Tarkan, we set up two ‘other brand’ digital consoles that they brought in. When the technical team arrived, we suggested that they work on the Midas XL8. Tarkan’s FOH engineer agreed. And as he studied the console, his eyes began to burn and he started to repeat, ‘I want one, I want one!’”
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